


Test Period

by puptart



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Gender-Neutral Runner Five, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Sam is dating Runner Five who is also dating Sara but Sam and Sara aren't dating each other, Sam's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 11:39:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5706286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puptart/pseuds/puptart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one actually calls it a ‘test period’, but that’s what it feels like when Sam, Sara, and Five all agree to give this thing a shot. ‘This thing’ being a relationship in which he and Sara date Five, but not each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Test Period

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this on tumblr ages ago and got reminded of it's existence today. If I remember correctly, this is the fic that really solidified my current 5/8/Sam headcanon relationship dynamic. Plus, I love playing around with poly dating dynamics. I oughta write a fic with these three and toss in Janine, Simon and Jody, just to see how that would work. And Jack and Eugene. And Maxine and Paula. And Ed. And Jaime. Ahem.

No one actually calls it a ‘test period’, but that’s what it feels like when Sam, Sara, and Five all agree to give this thing a shot. ‘This thing’ being a relationship in which he and Sara date Five, but not each other. 

They’re hardly the only, or the first, people in Abel to give new relationship dynamics a go. It’s still a bit weird being a part of one with this sort of dynamic. Not that he’s complaining, at all, a sentiment which he and Sara had both repeated over and over to a very uncertain Runner Five. 

“It was my idea, really. Couldn’t stand to see you two mooning over each other when you ought to be able to do something about it, hm?” Sara had said, grinning while Five looked more and more like they wanted the ground to swallow them whole.

The weirdest part may actually be how little he minds ‘sharing’ Five. Sam’s never been the jealous type exactly, but he’s never really been given a reason to be either. Even now he really doesn’t, considering Five and Sara were dating long before they all decided to try adding Sam to the mix. If anything, according the TV, he ought to be sleeping with one eye open, waiting for the day that Sara snaps and kills him in a jealous rage.

He’s really not afraid of that happening though. Sara’s been smug ever since he agreed to date Five (like he’d have to be convinced, _honestly_ ) and he’s felt pretty similarly actually. He’s dating _Runner Five_ , what isn’t there to be smug about? 

It probably helps that they all more or less live in each other’s pockets these days. He could see it being more of a strain if he had to go days without seeing Five or how tension could rise if he and Sara didn’t know each other well, but that’s not an issue at all. He may not claim to ‘know’ Sara, but he feels he knows her about as well as anyone except Five and Janine, and he knows her exactly as much as she wants him to. 

Still, as well as it’s all going, he knows this is all a test for each of them to see if they can handle it. He doesn’t have to ask who’s getting cut if anyone fails. The thought stings a little, but he can’t begrudge Sara for getting there first.

He can begrudge her for doing things that shave years off his life while dragging Five along behind her though.

“Amazing as that was,” Sam says, trying to keep his breathing smooth and even, “please do not ever set a car on fire and push it down a mountain again.”

“It wasn’t a mountain.” Five pipes in. Sam wishes the glare he was leveling at them through the cams could be conveyed through sound. He tries, but it only makes his runners grin at each other.

“Just a very steep hill.” Sara agrees, draping an arm over Five’s shoulder. “Relax Sam, look at all those zombies down there! Boom! Gone!”

“Yeah, but look at all the zombies that are converging on your location, drawn in by the noise! Oh wait! You can’t do that, because you don’t have bloody cams!” He snaps, frustrated. Runners going off script leads to dead runners, in Sam’s experience. That’s never a good thing, but in this case, it’s even worse.

“Alright, I hear you. What’s our move then?” Sara asks, far more docile than she usually is and not nearly as contrary. Five must notice too, because they glance at her almost questioningly. Sam waits a beat to see if she’s about to answer her own question, but no, she’s waiting for him.

“Keep going up.” He says, eyes glancing across his monitors, fingers moving on the keyboard to cycle through a few cams. “You should see a barn, the way is almost clear. If you’re quiet and fast, you’ll miss all the zombies and you can hide there for a little while.”

As they run, Sam wonders if his reaction and Sara’s reaction to his reaction have been noted by Five. It’s been two weeks since the conversation that changed Sam’s life (Dramatic, maybe. Accurate? Very.) but since no one’s said aloud that this is a trial, he has no idea when the trial ends. Maybe it never does.

Two hours later, Five and Sara both come loping through the gates, a little dirty but no worse for wear. Sara sends Five ahead to go cooldown, while she brings their headsets into the comm shack. Considering that usually goes the other way around, Sam’s expecting a talk to happen.

“So listen,” Sara says, once she’s got the headset hooked up to their charging stations. She’s leaning back against the wall, arms behind her back. “About what just happened.”

“You don’t have to explain, Sara-”

“No, shush.” She gives him a look that reminds him eerily of his mum, which is one of about a hundred reasons he’d had no desire to try a triad relationship. Once he’s made a good show of being willing to listen, she continues. “I trust you Sam, and I want you to know that. With a lot.”

“You mean Five?” He asks, and she nods.

“I also respect that you’ve lost someone who was also a runner. I just need you to know I’m not trying to throw you off in front of Five or anything. The risks I make are calculated. I’m not looking to get either of us killed and I’m not looking to get a rise out of you.” She says solemnly. Then, as an afterthought she adds, “Mostly.”

Which if that isn’t Sara all over, he doesn’t know what is. It occurs to him then that even though he doesn’t feel for Sara what he feels for Five, he still cares for her a whole hell of a lot. He’d say he loves her, but that’d mean admitting he loves Five and apocalypse or no, it’s a bit soon for that he’s pretty sure. He does have one confession to make though.

“If I was given the opportunity to be with Five, just the two of us, I don’t know that I’d take it.” He says. Sara blinks, surprised. “Five cares about you, so yeah, it’d make them sad if you weren’t here. But I… I dunno. I like feeling like we’re partners too, you know? Like we’ve got an ‘I Love Runner Five Club’ or something.”

Sara’s expression softens. “Yeah, it’s good…. ‘Love’, huh?”

Shit.

“Don’t tell Five I said that.” He begs, cheeks warming. Sara throws her head back and laughs, stepping over to clap a hand on his shoulder.

“Our secret, Sammy.”


End file.
